About
Karen Lawson, MD, DABIHM, NBC-HWC, is a consultant who works with programs and individuals to advance and expand training in Integrative Health Coaching and Holistic Healthcare. Her wide-ranging experience has included:
Work as an emergency department and family practice physician, and an Integrative physician.
She is the former medical director of Lamat Medical Corporation in San Diego, Calif.
She is also the former medical director of The Wege Institute for Mind, Body and Spirit at St. Mary's Mercy Medical Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.
She served as the founder and Director of Integrative Health Coaching at the UMN Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing from 2005-2022.
Dr. Lawson is a published author and researcher who speaks nationally to diverse audiences on the power and potential of holistic health care practices, integrative health coaching, and the role of whole person wellbeing in health and healing.
Leader
& Innovator
Karen is a physician, board-certified in Integrative and Holistic Medicine, she is Past-President of the American Holistic Medical Association (now the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine), and she’s a founding Diplomat of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine.
Karen holds undergraduate degrees from Michigan State University in Biochemistry and Physiology.
She completed her medical training at the University of Michigan.
Her Family Medicine residency was completed at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She created the UMN MA program in Integrative Health and Wellbeing Coaching and is a founding board member of the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching.
For 20 years, Karen represented University of Minnesota in the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health, serving on the Education and Steering Committees.
Karen has led initiatives including diversity, equity and inclusion in health coaching; and the introduction of health coaching into inter-professional heath care teams.
Connects
And Assembles Teams
Dr. Lawson has been a leader and active participant in the holistic healthcare movement in the US since the mid-1990’s, and has wide ranging connections and relationships with practitioners, educators, researchers, and organizations in this field. Additionally, as an academic, she has access to the over 100 alumni NBC-HWC’s she has trained at the graduate level. If an organization determines they have specific need for coaches, faculty, group leaders, or research support, Karen is able use her connections to build the optimal team, either through contractual arrangement with IHWC Productions, or via placement for direct hire.
Walks A Holistic Path
Karen is a dancer in body and soul, has had a 30-year yoga practice, has completed a 230 hr. yoga teacher training, and is a passionate student of salsa dancing. She loves:
The outdoors and any activities around the water
Wilderness canoe camping, sailing and windsurfing
Hiking, skiing, snowboarding, biking and weight training
Travel, music, reading and drumming
Karen has a passion for working with groups using ceremony and ritual for healing and life transitions
And mentoring young healthcare professionals in their personal holistic evolution
A Personal Note From Karen
"I am blessed with a wonderful family. My spouse of over 30 years, Martin, works as a Registered Occupational Therapist with special needs children. He has encouraged me to trust and develop my own creative and intuitive abilities, and supports my vision of reimagining health care. My adopted Chinese daughter, Lily, is wise beyond her years and is often my greatest teacher. I am grateful to them both."
